The Problem with Paradoxes
by spacer-42
Summary: Six minutes was enough time to prevent the imminent collapse of the universe, but not for lack of repercussions later on. There's always some danger in tampering with the spacetime continuum. A multi-chaptered 'what if' story. Spoilers for A Crack in Time. No pairings.
1. Awakening

Disclaimer: Ratchet and Clank and all related characters, locations, and concepts belong to Insomniac Games. All other ideas and characters are my own. I am not a lawyer.

Author's Note: So, I've decided to take a crack at writing some chaptered fanfiction. This takes place sometime after _A Crack in Time_. I'm not sure whether it'll end up fitting in with the comics and _All 4_ _One_, though. There will be spoilers for _ACiT_, though I'm not sure if those are considered spoilers anymore.

It may not be entirely apparent at the moment, but I've based this on the premise that changing a timeline has repercussions, even if it's done within the 'six minutes' that seem to be the general rule in the Ratchet and Clank universe for some reason. Expect to see a lot of characters, though of course the story focuses on our dynamic duo.

Anyway, reviews are appreciated, since I'm not sure if I know what I'm doing here.

* * *

The Problem with Paradoxes

Chapter 1: Awakening

_In the Cerulean Sector of the Polaris Galaxy, a medium-sized desert planet hung in the midst of a battle. Fighter ships circled it, firing at each other even as they plummeted towards its surface, their thrusters destroyed. Dropships delivered their cargo; reinforcements to fight a battle in which the tables were quickly turning against Fastoon's inhabitants. On the surface of the planet, in front of the court of Azimuth, two figures—one larger, one smaller—exchanged blows. Despite having a disadvantage in size, the smaller one managed to stand his ground. For the moment._

"_You'll never get away with this, Tachyon!" the smaller figure said._

_The Cragmite in question snickered as the Lombax barely dodged a rocket. "Actually, I will. I'd be happy to kill you now, too. Unless you decide to do me the favour of telling me where you hid the Lombax _Secret!_"_

_As he put some venom into the last word, the Cragmite fired another blast charge from his throne. The Lombax deflected it with his wrench. _

"_Never, Tachyon! The Lombax Secret dies with me!"_

_The Cragmite charged up his throne's vaporizer cannon, gloating as he did so._

"_Then I'll kill you as I did your wife! Say goodbye to your son, Kaden! I'll hunt him down when I'm done with you; him, and the Lombax Secret!"_

_Tachyon then did a double-take, realizing that the Lombax was no longer in front of him._

_Instead of listening to the crazed villain's banter, Kaden had started to run off, searching for cover. He was out of nanotech, and certain that he wouldn't survive another hit. He thought for a moment of the broken hoverboots he had left behind on Torren IV, assuming that he would have time to fix them later. Had he brought those with him, he would have been able to escape fast enough to survive the blinding flash of light that soon followed. Instead, he had left them behind in anticipation of a 'later' that he now knew would never come._

"_Ratchet… Ratchet…?"_

* * *

The Lombax groaned, stirring. Another nightmare. Ever since Alister's death, he'd been having the same terrible dreams. It was weird, since the dreams described events he'd never actually seen. He figured that he'd heard enough about for his subconscious to internalize them. Tachyon killing his parents. Alister dying. One dream even involved Alister killing him, though obviously, _that_ had never happened. He was alive and kicking. For the most part.

"Ratchet," a familiar voice said, "are you all right?"

_It's okay, _Ratchet thought to himself, _you're safe now._ He opened his eyes.

"Morning, Clank," the Lombax said, then yawned.

The robot stood by the HV set; Ratchet realized that he had forgotten to switch it off. Judging by the fact that he was lying on the couch, he realized that must have fallen asleep while watching holo-vids. Once he had switched off the HV, Clank turned to address the drowsy Lombax.

"Good morning, Ratchet." The robot squinted at his friend for a moment, assessing the Lombax's state. "You appear to be tired, despite the fact that it is already 1200 in the morning. Did you stay up late again?"

The guilty look on Ratchet's face gave away his reply before he spoke.

"I _tried_, Clank, but I can't get to sleep. Either the past is haunting me when I'm lying awake staring at the ceiling, or it's haunting me in my sleep. The only way I can sleep now is if I watch HV till my eyeballs burn out."

Clank frowned. "I noticed that you were muttering while you were asleep, but I did not wish to wake you. Was that another nightmare, then?"

Ratchet sat up and rested his elbows on his knees. He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear the images from his head.

"Yeah. I dreamed about Tachyon killing my dad again."

Clank approached Ratchet, unsure of what to do. Being a robot, despite having a soul, he still had trouble figuring out what to do in delicate situations. Perhaps talking about the nightmares would make Ratchet feel better. Sitting on the couch, Clank hesitantly put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"The fact that you have such nightmares is understandable," Clank said. "While you do not remember your father, you have recently lost a father figure."

Both of them fell silent. They had discussed this before, but doing so was never a pleasant experience. Although Clank had never really met Alister Azimuth, he knew that the elder Lombax's betrayal and subsequent sacrifice had affected Ratchet. The hurt in Ratchet's eyes whenever he talked about Azimuth was clear, and it hurt Clank to see his friend upset.

After a moment, Ratchet nodded, and the robot continued.

"You never knew who your real father was, not until recently. While I was…" Clank paused, searching for the right word, "… _away_, you encountered someone who was not only another Lombax, but a good friend of your father, as well. Naturally, you grew attached. However…."

Clank trailed off. Alister's betrayal did not need mention, nor did he want to talk about the elder Lombax's death.

"At any rate," Clank said, "I believe that your nightmares are the result of the grief you experienced from the loss of Alister Azimuth."

Ratchet looked away, his face impassive.

"He was a hero in the end, though, right? You know, despite—" Ratchet pinched the bridge of his nose "—despite what he did?"

For a moment, a memory flashed through Clank's mind. A concentrated beam of energy hitting Ratchet in the chest, Ratchet keeling over, the surprised expression frozen on the Lombax's face as he fell into nothing. Clank stopped that thought. He had been modified to be capable of enduring temporal paradoxes, but dwelling on them made him feel sick to his sisterboards.

Still, Clank couldn't help but recall a brief instant, a moment of eye contact between himself and Azimuth before the latter had sacrificed himself, a moment during which he saw the realization in Alister's eyes as the Lombax recognized what he had almost done—what, thanks to Clank's intervention, he had failed to do—yet what, in another doomed universe, had happened—

"Yes," Clank said, "he was a hero in the end."

Feeling a rare twinge of unease, Clank decided to change the subject. He pointed towards the garage.

"Now, what modifications were you planning for Aphelion?"

As Ratchet babbled about warp drives and fusion coils, Clank pondered the implications of his friend's nightmare. Such was the benefit of parallel processing; he could carry on a conversation about one topic while thinking about another.

This was not the first time that Ratchet had experienced such a nightmare. Clank took less time to recharge than Ratchet took to get a good night's rest. Sometimes, while going about his morning tasks, the robot could hear his friend muttering in his sleep. After the Great Clock incident, Ratchet's nightmares came with alarming frequency. The years of saving the Universe appeared to be finally taking a toll on the Lombax's psyche.

The fact that they were staying in Alister's old residence on Lumos probably wasn't helping. Ratchet had insisted that they needed to search, but his exhaustion had led him to settle down instead. At least Ratchet kept busy by repairing Aphelion; doing something constructive kept his mind occupied. Still, a change of scenery would be beneficial.

Clank started, struck by an idea. Perhaps there _was_ something that could lead them on the right track to finding the Lombaxes.


	2. Leaving

Disclaimer: Ratchet and Clank and all related characters, locations, and concepts belong to Insomniac Games. All other ideas and characters are my own. I am not a lawyer.

Author's Note:

This story has gotten some reviews already, and I'm incredibly grateful for that. Thanks, everyone!

Here's the second chapter; the place where things start to happen. Possibly. I have a rough outline-plan-thing that covers about fifteen chapters so far, so expect this thing to go on for quite a while.

I guess this is the part where I apologize for the major delay in posting chapters. I had to disappear on holiday unexpectedly for a while. (I'm still nursing the sunburn from that.) I'll be on and off for some of the summer since people seem to enjoy dragging me places.

Anyway, once again, beware of spoilers for _A Crack in Time_, and anything leading up to that game. Also, reviews are appreciated as always.

* * *

The Problem with Paradoxes

Chapter 2: Leaving

Zoni zoomed by, left and right, giggling as they chased each other around the Clock. Hundreds of intricate components, their function and purpose known only to a select few, ticked and tocked in perfect synchronization. Freshly oiled gears spun and whirred. Clean metal gleamed in the light that seemed to come from the heart of the Clock itself, as if the chronometer were some giant living, breathing being. Which, to some extent, it probably was.

Sigmund laughed as he darted from platform to platform. Being the Senior Caretaker was awesome. He actually had real security clearance now. Things had gone awesomely under his direction, too, if he did say so himself. Not only was the entire Great Clock back to normal and fully functional; it was also _shiny_.

Oh, no, wait. Here was a holo-screen with some smudges on it. Not so shiny. Sigmund sought to remedy that. He pulled a cloth out from his handy-dandy utility belt and buffed the display until it was clean and reflective, just like all the others beside it.

"You can stop cleaning, you know," a condescending, female voice said. "You've been doing so for several cycles, now."

Sigmund bristled. "I must keep the Great Clock in good shape. Orvus and Clank left it to me, after all."

The robot straightened, and puffed his chest out. He picked up the Chronoscepter, which he had left leaning against the nearby wall.

"Now," Sigmund said, "off to check if the Zoni made a mess in the Orvus Chamber again."

He wasn't talking to the computer, but more to himself. Thinking out loud was kind of his schtick. Time puzzles were a snap when he talked his way through them. Narrating his actions out loud also gave him the impression that he was in some super-awesome action movie, which made him feel like he was _really_ doing important work. He was, too, since keeping time was the most important job in the Universe.

Sigmund grinned at the thought as he hovered towards the heart of the Clock.

The computer's voice cut his musing short. "You should really stop talking to yourself. It's unbecoming."

"I'll do what I want," Sigmund said. "I'm the Senior Caretaker, after all."

He zoomed down a hallway, muttering under his breath about how stupid the computer was.

"I heard that," the voice answered in his wake.

* * *

All the conversation about Aphelion's modifications had led Ratchet to start working on them. Clank stood beside his friend, paying attention to what the Lombax was doing in case he needed help. The robot always knew which tools to hand Ratchet at any given time. They had worked together for so long that Clank knew exactly which tools were best suited to certain tasks.

As a result, the garage was quiet, save for a few faint clangs as Ratchet tightened another bolt or plugged in another wire. Clank saw the silence as a good moment to bring up what he had been thinking about earlier.

"Ratchet," Clank said.

Ratchet turned around, but hesitated before answering. Clank had a certain look on his face, one which meant that he was going to bring up a potentially unpleasant idea.

"What's up, Clank?" Ratchet said.

Clank avoided Ratchet's gaze as he answered.

"Have you considered the possibility of going away?"

Ratchet frowned.

"What, from here?"

"Perhaps," Clank said. "We arrived here six months ago with the goal of finding information, but it seems that we have failed in that respect."

"Aw, come on, we've talked to a few people. There were those Vullards. All… three of them. Oh, also, that Agorian! Well, he said something about Lombaxes before trying to kill us both; that counts, right?"

Clank narrowed his optics, unamused. Ratchet raised his arms in a noncommittal gesture.

"Okay, okay," the Lombax said. "I see your point. We've been sitting here for six months and all I've managed to do is outfit Aphelion with so many mods that she's probably got more gadgets than the Phoenix by now." He paused. "I guess it's just… I was expecting that once we came here, we'd get some leads and get some idea of where we should go next. From what's happened up till now, I still have no clue what to do."

"I have an idea," Clank said.

The robot swept aside some of the tools on the bench, and put down a holomap projector. The map expanded, showing a familiar-looking planet.

"Is that—"

"Planet Kortog," Clank said.

"Wait, that's where Stratus City is, isn't it? Do you want us to go to…"

Clank gestured, and the map zoomed in on Stratus City. One of the buildings lit up.

"I suggest that we visit the Hall of Knowledge."

* * *

"So, where are we headed now?" Aphelion asked, closing her cockpit as the Lombax and the robot settled in.

"Stratus City, back on Kortog," Ratchet said. "You remember where that is, right?"

"Of course," Aphelion said, offended at the implication that she could _forget_ the location of anything. "Is there any particular reason why you wish to go there?"

Clank was quick to answer her question with the same reasoning he had provided to Ratchet earlier:

"Since Tachyon is no longer censoring the media, I believe we may be able to acquire more information about the Lombaxes from the Hall of Knowledge."

Ratchet rolled his eyes, then grinned, trying to be lighthearted about the subject.

"Basically, Clank wants to do research because he's a huge nerd."

The Lombax grabbed the steering wheel and powered up the thrusters, preparing Aphelion for liftoff. Clank narrowed one of his optical sensors, widening the other. The robotic equivalent of raising an eyebrow.

"Do you have any better suggestions, Ratchet?"

"Nah, we may as well check." Ratchet's expression darkened. "Let's hope we actually find something useful this time."

"Indeed," Clank said.

Ratchet's eyebrows met in a determined frown as he steered the ship into her ascent. Clank knew that his friend wanted to find his species more than anything in the universe. Without the Dimensionator, however, the robot did not know whether doing so was possible. Still, it would not do them any harm to try.

The cabin grew silent as they exited the outer atmosphere, but the silence was soon interrupted by a beeping tone.

"Incoming urgent transmission," Aphelion said. "I cannot get a signature, but I have triangulated the signal to a location somewhere in the Breegus Nebula."

Ratchet's eyes widened. "Oh, but that's where—"

Clank cut the Lombax off by opening the transmission on the vidscreen. A familiar face appeared.

"Clank!" Sigmund yelled, shaking the vidscreen on his end as he did so. "Clank! _Clank_!"

The robot in question widened his optics, hearing the panic in the custodian's voice. Something must have gone wrong.

"Hello, Sigmund." Clank said. "You appear to be… agitated."


	3. Crashing

Disclaimer: Ratchet and Clank and all related characters, locations, and concepts belong to Insomniac Games. All other ideas and characters are my own. I am not a lawyer.

Author's Note:

Apparently, when I have spare time, I can be surprisingly productive in terms of writing. Here's the third chapter, in which I start to make assumptions about things that aren't really discussed in detail in the canon. One of the more important assumptions here is that robots have trouble dealing with paradoxes.

Plenty of spoilers for _A Crack in Time_ ahead. Once again, reviews are appreciated!

* * *

The Problem with Paradoxes

Chapter 3: Crashing

An unusual sight greeted Sigmund when he arrived at the Orvus Chamber. Centuries of experience led him to recognize exactly what was in the middle of the Chamber. Not that centuries of experiences made the idea any more believable. Confused, the robot made his way towards what appeared to be an ordinary time portal, complete with blue, timey-wimey light. The fact that the portal existed wasn't as strange as the fact that it was right in the middle of the Chamber, next to the controls. A weird place to put one. He didn't remember asking the computer to create one.

"Computer?"

"Yes?" the voice replied, sounding bored. "I _am_ always here, you know. No need to call me."

"Why is there a portal in the middle of the chamber? Wait, don't tell me. You created it just to annoy me, right? Right?"

"…"

"Right?"

"You told me not to tell you."

"Gah! Stupid, irritating, obsolete, outdated…"

"I did not create the portal," the computer said.

Sigmund stopped what he was doing; namely muttering to himself while poking the edge of the portal with a finger and watching it disappear and reappear through the dimension-warping field. He jerked his hand away.

"What?" he said.

Sigmund poked the portal again.

"I did not create the portal," the computer reiterated.

"Then how did it get here?"

Sigmund's tone quickly switched once again form confusion to accusation as he circled the wormhole to get to the other side of it, though cautiously, so as not to go through it.

"You probably let the Zoni goof around," he said.

Great. He'd only let the Zoni enter the Chamber because they had wanted to make sure it was in one piece. Even then, he'd told the computer to supervise. Clearly, she hadn't done a good job.

"No," the computer replied innocently. Innocently and truthfully. After you were stuck with a computer for a few millennia, you knew when she was lying.

"So, what _is_ this portal doing here?"

The computer paused for a moment, checking her records.

"This portal is the result of an instability in spacetime which was created on the day when the Lombax Azimuth attempted to warp to before the Great War. According to my readings, it has been expanding ever since. The Great Clock's log states that the Orvus Chamber was used twice that day: once to go back six minutes in time, and once to go back about twenty-five years, though it was reset the second time."

"Wait a minute, did you say that someone went back six minutes in t—?"

"Yes."

"—ime?"

Sigmund paused. He glared at one of the consoles.

"Could you stop doing that?" he said.

"Doing what?"

Sighing, Sigmund buried his face in his hand for a moment before continuing.

"Never mind. Who did that? Why did you authorize them?"

"The current Senior Custodian at the time, XJ-0461. His signature would have overridden the security protocols, had any actually been installed."

Sigmund frowned, scratching the back of his head. The lack of security protocols explained why the Lombax Azimuth had been able to operate the Great Clock, but Clank's actions raised many more questions. Why would Clank travel back in time? After all, Orvus had made his message perfectly clear. Time was not to be tampered with. Sigmund had to check what was going on.

"Is the portal stable?"

"Affirmative."

"Alright, then, I'm going in."

Steeling himself, Sigmund hovered through before the computer could protest. What he saw shocked him.

Clank stood at the controls of the Great Clock, alone. He didn't seem to notice Sigmund, who emerged from a portal located in the ceiling.

Sigmund watched as the robot stood for a while, clearly thinking. Then, Clank grabbed the lever, turning it six minutes back. He ran backwards out of the Chamber as the flow of time was reversed. As soon as the doors closed, space and time fizzled, and Clank burst into the Chamber, running towards the controls, only to stand and think for a while once again.

Bewildered, Sigmund flew back through the portal. He had to contact the present Clank right away. This demanded an explanation.

* * *

Sigmund shook the vidscreen on his side more vigorously as he yelled. This resulted in a shaky image on the other side; the camera was screen-mounted.

"Clank! Clank! Clank! What were you _thinking_?"

This caught both Ratchet and Clank's attention. Aphelion was on autopilot, but she listened in as well. Clank's optics widened.

"Sigmund, I do not understand."

Sigmund was indignant.

"Why did you go back in time? I thought you heard Orvus. 'The Clock, much like time itself, is a gift…'"

Clank flinched. How had Sigmund found out? According to continuum mechanics, because Clank had changed time, no one should have been able to find out that he had done so. The timeline had been changed, so Alister had not killed Ratchet, and hence time had never needed changing, but… Clank's radiator fans activated; his cores were heating up. Temporal paradoxes were not good on his system, but how was this possible? How was this possible? How was this possible…

"Clank!" A jolt brought the robot back to reality. Ratchet was shaking his shoulders. Clank blinked.

"You were muttering to yourself and spacing out," the Lombax said. "Something about 'six minutes.'"

Clank turned back to the vid-screen, where Sigmund sat, chewing on his fingertips.

"I am sorry," Clank said. "I did not know that there was any risk. Please understand, I thought it was safe; the Plumber said so, at any rate—"

"The Plumber?" Ratchet interjected.

"Yes, I saw him in the mnemonic chamber; he appeared in my subconscious, though whether that was him, or a fault in my programming, I cannot say…"

Ratchet watched as Clank's eyes grew dim again. Something was wrong. His friend wasn't quite all there. Grabbing Clank's shoulders, he shook him again.

"Clank, Clank, stay with me." The robot blinked, and his eyes brightened. "You aren't making much sense, but that's okay." Ratchet glanced at the vid-screen, nodded at Sigmund, and then looked back at Clank.

"Just tell us. Why did you travel back?"

Clank winced, looking around the room before settling his gaze on Ratchet's face. He couldn't avoid the subject any longer. The truth would have to get out.

"Ratchet," Clank said, "in the original timeline, Alister Azimuth killed you. I travelled back in time to stop him because I-I could not bear to have you dead."

Having said those words, Clank blacked out completely. All Ratchet could do was catch his friend to prevent him from falling flat on his face. On the vid-screen, a clatter sounded as Sigmund stopped hovering altogether and fell to the floor in shock. Aphelion cut her engines.


	4. Errors

Disclaimer: Ratchet and Clank and all related characters, locations, and concepts belong to Insomniac Games. All other ideas and characters are my own. I am not a lawyer.

Author's Note:

Chapter 4 is finally up. I've been busy with holidays, computer maintenance, and an ant invasion, so I apologize for the slight delay. It may be a while before I post again, too, but that can't be helped.

I'm think "Portholes" was something that I remember from R&C, but I'm not sure. If not, it's an allusion to a certain operating system. You know the one.

Again, beware of spoilers for ACiT and reviews are appreciated as always!

* * *

The Problem with Paradoxes

Chapter 4: Errors

Ratchet set Clank back down in the seat beside him, positioning the robot so that he wouldn't fall over in his unconscious state.

"I'm on my way," he said to Sigmund, who floated back up into the camera's field of view.

"Good plan," Sigmund said. "I'll… check on the Orvus Chamber again."

The vid-screen went black, and Ratchet turned his attention to his friend. Despite having passed out, Clank was okay. The red light on his head was blinking, which meant that Clank was just rebooting.

As Ratchet took Aphelion's controls, his mind drifted towards a more pressing concern:

_In the original timeline, Alister Azimuth killed you._

_How could he have done that?_ Ratchet wondered, bewildered. Alister had been like a father to him. He thought that the elder Lombax had seen him as a son. The betrayal stung. Earlier, he'd known that Alister had betrayed him by trying to turn back time, but knowing that hadn't hurt as much.

It hurt to know that Alister had actually gone through with his threat to kill him.

He could understand why Clank had hidden the truth from him. Before, Ratchet had forgiven the general, since the latter had atoned for his actions in sacrificing himself to save the Universe. Now, things were more complicated.

Alister must have killed him— tried to kill him— while they were at the Clock. Before that, he hadn't known how angry the elder Lombax had been. Ratchet tried to pinpoint the exact moment of his 'death', wondering at the same time if doing so was a good idea. A memory that was his and yet not his own jumped into his mind, unbidden.

"_Where are you going? This is your responsibility, you can't just walk away! The Lombaxes need us! Don't walk away from me! I said STOP!"_

_A flash of blue light, the sound of lightning, then nothing._

Alister had literally shot him in the back. He had been ready to kill him—without a fair fight—for the sake of a species that had been exiled for a couple of decades. It went against everything that Ratchet thought Alister had stood for; honour, duty, courage…

Ratchet wondered what would have happened had Clank not stopped Alister. What he came up with made him queasy. He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind, deciding to address them later.

In the mean time, he put the radio on and busied himself with piloting Aphelion, letting his mind go blank.

* * *

Sigmund closed the video link. Ratchet was on his way. He was one lucky Lombax; Clank had risked all of time and space to bring him back to life. That risk had turned out to be a grave miscalculation, though. The fabric of spacetime had started to fall apart. As far as Sigmund knew, the situation could only be remedied by eliminating the source of the paradox. Ratchet would have to die.

Cringing at the thought, Sigmund picked up the Chronoscepter and walked up to an interface holo-screen.

Sigmund would try to fix the paradox if he could, but it wasn't likely that he could do anything. The damage was done. Still, he would do what he could to find another solution. He owed that much to Clank. Besides, he had a sneaking suspicion that Orvus would have thought of something like this. Clank wouldn't have gone back and changed time if he had thought that his actions would do any damage.

In the mean time, he could try to find out more about the portal. As he accessed the Clock's time log, Sigmund watched the dimensional doorway in the corner of his eye. He could swear that the portal was growing so quickly that he could _see_ it increasing in size, now. Unless his processors were playing tricks on him. Hopefully the latter was true.

The first log entry on the list was the most recent one. It described the Lombax Azimuth trying to turn the Clock back to before the Great War. All the details were present: relative starting time, selected destination, relativistic spacetime coordinates taking into account the Clock's motion relative to the nearest major system.

Opening the log entry which detailed the earlier event had a different, less pleasant result.

_A problem has been detected and Portholes had been shut down to prevent damage to your computer._

DIVIDE_BY_ZERO_ERROR

_If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer._

Sigmund rolled his eyes as he reached for the console's power button. Well, if Clank had crashed, then it made sense that a supercomputer would crash, too. Thinking about such a temporal anomaly, especially after having triggered it, tended to have such an effect on robotic beings. Even Sigmund had to be careful. He mentally recited a poem Orvus had taught him to divert his focus and resist the urge to compute the parameters of such a paradox himself.

Once the system powered up, he decided to run a search to see what Orvus had to say on temporal paradoxes. Maybe there was a way to fix the situation.

* * *

_Clank blinked and sat up. He had been either unconscious, or asleep. It was difficult to remember which. In fact, he could not remember anything that had happened before he had lost consciousness. The dazed robot shook his head in an attempt to get his sensory processors working properly. It was an organic habit, but it was all he could do. His vision soon focused. Turning, he examined his surroundings._

_He was sitting on a couch. In front of him was a coffee table, behind which hung a wall-mounted vid-screen. There was a window on another wall to the side, through which streamed the diffuse light of a cloudy day. _

_When had he travelled back to his apartment? As far as he could remember—because now, he could remember—the last time that he had been conscious, he had been on Aphelion. He had been travelling to the Great Clock with Ratchet. There had been an incident of some sort. Of which sort, the robot could not recall. _

_At any rate, here he was, alone, in an apartment that he thought he had vacated years ago._

_Clank stood up, and walked towards the nearby window._

_An unusual scene presented itself to him. A familiar cityscape, evidently the city of Megapolis, appeared to be flipped along a horizontal axis. Clank chuckled as a few hovercars flew by, clearly upside-down. Since he was still standing on the floor and the laws of gravity did not seem to have changed overnight, he was able to jump to the logical conclusion._

"_Evidently, I am dreaming," Clank muttered to himself, amused. Taking the most logical course of action, he walked back towards his bed. If he were to assume that his dreams worked similarly to those of organics, then, because he was lucid, once he woke up after falling asleep in the dream, he would wake up in reality. _

_He dismissed the idea that his dreams were different from those of organics, as he had not immediately woken up after acquiring lucidity. _

"_No matter," Clank said. "I will think about this after I have awoken and addressed the situation at the Great Clock. Whatever that situation may be."_

_He would remember exactly what that situation entailed when he awoke. _


	5. Realization

Disclaimer: Ratchet and Clank and all related characters, locations, and concepts belong to Insomniac Games. All other ideas and characters are my own. I am not a lawyer.

Author's Note: I've finished Chapter 5 at last. Sorry for the delay; it was partly due to school and me not having any free weekends, and partly due to me plotting out this fic. (Seriously, I've drawn spacetime diagrams and everything.) The good news is that I've pretty much figured out where I'm going with the plot of this thing.

This chapter contains traces of math, because I've always thought that the 'final digit of pi' line in Going Commando was pretty funny. Also because high school calculus suddenly seems relatively easy compared to the crazy math shenanigans I'm going through right now. But I digress.

Anyway, as always, reviews are appreciated! (Also, spoilers for _ACiT_, but I do hope you've figured that by now.)

* * *

The Problem with Paradoxes

Chapter 5: Realization

Ratchet steered Aphelion towards the Great Clock. Sigmund had said that they needed to figure out how to fix the paradox, because if left alone, it could tear apart the fabric of spacetime… something like that, at least. Spacetime continuum mechanics wasn't really his thing. He could see why Clank had crashed.

At the same time, Clank was supposed to have been built for the job of keeping time. Yet Sigmund seemed to handle things better than Clank, even though he'd originally been a cleaner bot or something like that.

It was all a bit strange.

"Aphelion?" Ratchet said.

"Yes, Ratchet?" the ship replied.

"You know that Clank was created at the Great Clock, right?"

"Yes, he mentioned that before." Aphelion's tone was anticipatory. She knew Ratchet had more to add, but didn't know where his train of thought was leading.

"Don't you think it's funny that even though Clank was built to take care of time, he can't grasp paradoxes without crashing?"

"I am not sure it's possible to program any robotic being to be able to grasp temporal paradoxes. They are paradoxes, after all. They defy logic."

Ratchet frowned as he steered out of the way of a speeding transport ship.

"Yeah, but you'd think that the guy who built the Great Clock would be able to program his own son to compute this sort of stuff. I mean, from what I've heard, Orvus is pretty much the smartest Zoni, if not being, in existence…"

"It's not about Orvus' intelligence, so much as it is about what is possible. After all, not even you organics are able to grasp paradoxes."

"I–" Ratchet started, before being cut off.

"Yes," Aphelion said, amused, "you can think about them, but for how long before you get a headache? And can you glean any meaning from the paradox after thinking about it? Take the liar paradox, for example."

Ratchet scratched the back of his head, expecting Aphelion to elaborate. She didn't.

"Uh," he said, "yeah, haven't heard of that one."

"This sentence is false," Aphelion said.

"Yeah, so? Oh, wait. But if it's false, then it's true, but if it's true, then it's false, so no matter what, it contradicts itself."

"Yet it can still exist as a semantically sound idea. Do you see how you pondered it for only a moment before discarding it as unresolvable? My programming prevents me from attempting to process such paradoxes, because if I were to start doing so, I would be unable to stop. Technological beings, by nature, cannot process such ideas. The fault is not Orvus', but rather that of nature itself."

"Huh," Ratchet said, understanding dawning on him. "I never thought about that."

Silence fell again, but not for long. One of Ratchet's ears twitched, picking up a faint whirring sound. He turned to look at the seat beside him.

Clank was stirring and muttering something. He kept pausing, as if he were having a conversation.

"Clank," Ratchet said, poking the robot's shoulder. "Clank, are you okay? Wake up!"

The robot blinked, and spoke up:

"When _y _is a function of _x_, the derivative of _y _with respect to _x_ may found from first principles using the difference quotient…"

Ratchet sighed. Clank was off on some mathematical tangent again. He rambled on about the sort of stuff that had given Ratchet nightmares in high school. After a few slaps from the Lombax, Clank came to his senses.

"Ratchet!" Clank said, as soon as he came to. "I must speak to Sigmund."

* * *

_Once again, Clank jerked awake. This time, judging by the input from his somatosensory system, he was sitting on some sort of seat. A rather familiar seat. The robot opened his eyes to the cockpit of Aphelion._

_Beside him was also a familiar sight, though one that he was never too keen on seeing._

"_Looks like we meet again," the Plumber said. He was piloting the ship with one hand, as if he had done so a billion times before. Clank shook his head in disbelief._

_Looking out the cockpit window, the robot saw the distinctive floating white-and-blue platforms of his subconscious. Several vid-screens were scattered in clusters throughout the space, but they were switched off. Clank turned back to the Plumber, hoping that he could learn more about recent events._

"_You lied to me," Clank said. "Even travelling six minutes back in time had an observable effect. Sigmund was able to find out. Given his urgency, I would even say that my actions did some damage to the spacetime continuum."_

"_Good, very good," the Plumber said, seemingly unperturbed by the cold tone of Clank's voice. "Nice observations. You're throwing around some pretty serious accusations, though. I didn't lie to ya."_

_Clank narrowed his optics. The Plumber continued to speak._

"_Oh, come on. The Universe didn't start falling apart right away, did it? And it's not gonna do that anytime soon. I did you a favour. But that's all in the past. I have some serious stuff to talk to you about. Stuff involving time and space and stuff."_

_Clank sighed, tired of the Plumber's cryptic statements. He often thought that the Novalian was being deliberately obscure. "Have you declared my subconscious as your place of permanent residence?"_

"_Hey, I don't control where pipes break down."_

"_I highly doubt that you are fixing pipes at the moment, seeing that we are both inside a spaceship."_

"_I needed to fix her cooling system, but whatever." The plumber waved a hand. "I told you. This is important. It's the sort of stuff you'd get some guy with a keyboard to write about. There's two things I've gotta tell you. First of all, I'll tell you now, what you're really looking for isn't at the Great Clock."_

_The Plumber paused as Clank mused over this statement. _

"_Thank you, but I am not looking for anything in particular at the moment."_

"_You'll figure it out soon enough. Secondly, and more importantly, _he's_ still alive."_

_Then, the Plumber pressed the 'eject' button and Clank flew out of the cockpit. Any reply the robot came up with in the split second before he went flying was carried away by the wind._

* * *

"Ratchet! I must speak to Sigmund."

A look of mild distaste lingered on Ratchet's face for a moment before being replaced by concern.

"Clank, are you okay?"

"I am… fine," the robot responded, straightening up. "Please call Sigmund again; there is an especially urgent matter that must be brought to his attention."

"I'm setting up a link," Aphelion said, as the vid-screen fizzled to life. Sigmund appeared, the worried expression on his face quickly changing to relief.

"Phew! I was so worried, sir! You see, Orvus taught me a poem that helps with the whole paradox-processor-messing thing, but I didn't have time to teach it to you..."

"Thank you, Sigmund," Clank replied, "but my circuit breakers kicked in before I was able to sustain any significant damage. That is not the reason that I contacted you again, however. I must ask: what were the circumstances of my father's death?"

Sigmund drew away from the screen for a moment, running a hand through his antennae. "Is this really the moment to talk about that? Uh, it's just…"

"I ask only because I have reason to suspect that he is still alive."

_Your dad's alive?_ Ratchet mouthed, looking at Clank, but Sigmund's reply was far more stunned.

"What? Orvus is alive? Orvus is alive?! Why didn't you tell me? Where is he? Do you know where he is?"

Sigmund flew away from the camera, did a quick circuit of the room he was in, and then returned, an expression of disbelief mixed with excitement on his face.

"That is what I am attempting to find out. I am aware that he was last seen captured on the Tombli Outpost, as Ratchet saw," Clank glanced at his friend, "but then he disappeared. As far as I know, his death was never explicitly confirmed."

"I remember that he kind of disappeared into thin air," Ratchet said. "I mean, he could've teleported or something, right?"

"Yeah," Sigmund said, "about that. I mean, I don't know if Zoni actually _die_ the way we do. I mean, they sort of disappear forever sometimes, I think. Still, from what I've heard, it's not so easy to do that unless you have a black hole or a high-energy pulse or a spacetime anomaly…"

Sigmund's eyes widened as he contemplated the possibilities.

"Come to the Great Clock anyway," he said, "we'll think about it. I'll make tea."


	6. Arrival

Disclaimer: Ratchet and Clank and all related characters, locations, and concepts belong to Insomniac Games. All other ideas and characters are my own. I am not a lawyer.

Author's Note: Okay, I know it's been _ages_ since I've updated, but university is tough. Finals are over now, though, so I have a bit of time to write again. I'm terribly sorry for the delay, but I'll try to update a bit more often over the next two weeks to make up for it.

As for the story, things are slowly starting to happen, I guess. Note that I am not a computer science major, so my justifications for the way robots think here are fuzzy. But then, we're talking about fictional robots since computers aren't capable of thought. Anyway, the way I see it, robots have conscious (so to speak) control of the processes in their systems, but paradoxes create a process which ends up hogging all their processing power and then as a result, they're unable to terminate it unless their firmware overrides it for some reason. (In Clank's case, he overheated, so I'm supposing that he would have firmware that would automatically shut him down in case of overheating.)

Look at me talking as if I know things about computers. I guess it's handwave-y, but it's handwave-y in a somewhat thought-out manner. I could write paragraphs about little details I think about, but that would get boring to read, I think.

Note, also, that I am not a poet. This will become relevant shortly.

Anyway, beware of spoilers for _A Crack in Time, _but none for _Full Frontal Assault_ since I have not had the chance to play that yet, unfortunately! Hopefully that will change soon.

Reviews are appreciated as usual, assuming that you all aren't furious with me for my terrible updating schedule, or rather, my lack of any schedule at all. (Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, too. You people are awesome.)

* * *

The Problem with Paradoxes

Chapter 6: Arrival

As he piloted Aphelion towards the Great Clock in silence, Ratchet pondered the implications of what had happened.

Alister Azimuth had killed him.

_Killed him._

Then again, would it have been permanent?

_Alister Azimuth gritted his teeth and turned away, unable to look Ratchet in the eye._

"_Kill you now, save you in the past!_"

Alister would never have thought of his actions as _killing_ Ratchet. To Alister, the alternate-universe version of Ratchet that could-have-been was very alive.

Except such an alternate universe couldn't exist. Reversing time that far in the past would have ripped apart the Universe. Ratchet had seen it almost happen.

Now, Clank had reversed time. Technically, Alister had never managed to kill Ratchet. He would have. And he had. In another timeline or something. Or another universe. Another universe that would soon have been destroyed.

Now, Ratchet's own universe was in jeopardy. Clank had gambled on the rules of time to save his life.

Ratchet realized that he hadn't thanked him for that. The Lombax switched Aphelion to autopilot, then turned to face his friend.

"Uh, Clank," Ratchet started, then faltered. He'd been in many battles and defeated countless enemies, but he still had trouble with touchy-feely stuff.

Clank blinked, confused. "Yes, Ratchet?"

"I uh, never thanked you. I mean, I _died_ back there... and you basically risked all of space and time to bring me back. And now the Universe is falling apart. You know, if…"

Ratchet swallowed, his throat having suddenly gone dry. "If I have to die to fix the paradox, and keep the Universe in one piece, I will—"

Clank cut him off, a steely tone in his voice that Ratchet rarely heard.

"You will not die. I will not allow it. I would not play dice with the universe if I intended to lose. My father will know what to do, I am certain of it."

"What if he's not actually alive, though? What then? When it's between me and the Universe, you've got to think of the bigger picture! You're the one who started this in the first place; if you didn't save me, then all this space-time-ripping business wouldn't have happened."

"I chose the lesser of two evils, so to speak. Had I not revived you, between Azimuth and Nefarious, the Great Clock would have been abused in a much more catastrophic manner. Six minutes is several orders of magnitude less than twenty years."

"Nothing happened, though. Alister realized that going back that far was a bad idea."

"Yes, but only you could convince him of that. I do not regret my actions, despite the inconvenience of the current situation. Whatever your current misgivings may be, I have full confidence in my past decision."

They fell silent. Ratchet didn't know what else to say. Unlike most robots, Clank was capable of wishful thinking.

"Forget it," Ratchet said, finally. "I don't want you to crash again."

"There is no need for worry, since I believe that I have now figured out Sigmund's method—"

"Just… forget about it for now. I don't wanna risk anything."

* * *

Sigmund was making tea. It was a habit ingrained in him from years spent with Orvus, who thought tea was the first step to fixing everything. Tired after a day of fixing paradoxes? Make tea. Frustrated because the Zoni won't listen? Make tea. Scared that a time paradox will tear the fabric of spacetime apart (again)? You'd better have a strong brew ready.

A few Zoni helped Sigmund with the task, flying around with cups and saucers. The robot cringed. Though the Zoni meant well, they weren't always as helpful as they thought they were.

"Watch it," he said, as one of them nearly dropped a saucer. Normally, he drank out of mugs, but once in a while, you needed to bring out the fine china. He snatched the saucer from the Zoni, inspected it for cracks, and then sighed. This was the first time he'd brought out the fancy tea set since Orvus had left.

Still, Clank's visit warranted something higher-quality, and now, they were saying that they would find Orvus! Sigmund really hoped so. He'd never had a father, but from what he'd seen of organic families in the holovids, Orvus had basically adopted him.

Orvus was alive, he had to be! Sigmund didn't know why he'd reacted the way he had to the news earlier. He couldn't believe that for a while, he'd started to wonder if maybe Orvus was d—

_No, don't think about that. Don't think about that. He's just gone away for a while. And now he's coming back. That's the way it's always been._

Sigmund put the kettle on—maybe a bit more violently than necessary—and in a flash of inspiration, decided to _warm the teapot_. He hadn't done that in years! Perhaps he would put on some chai. Or maybe a green tea of some sort. Whatever, so long as it was loose-leaf. He sorted through a pile of boxes that the Zoni had dumped onto the counter.

_Where'd you guys get all this stuff, anyway?_ he'd said, earlier. _You know, on second thought, I'd rather you didn't tell me._

A bright yellow box caught Sigmund's eye. _Earl Grey_. Orvus' favourite.

Sigmund had always preferred oil, but tea had grown on him after a while. Now, he found it soothing. It reminded him of the day Orvus had hired him. He was surprised he still remembered, sometimes, seeing how long ago that had been. Still, being hired to work at the Great Clock had been a life-changing event. He still remembered how it all had started, too.

_Sigmund was scared for his life. There was some break-out in progress, and he was trying not to get killed. When Zordoom was in lockdown, the security bots didn't discriminate against what they shot at, so long as it was a) moving, and b) not another security bot. They were a chauvinistic bunch._

_Sigmund hid inside a supply closet, listening to the sound of sentries storming by, hoping that his boss wasn't going to catch him hiding and reprimand him for 'lazing around on the job'. Sigmund didn't think that self-preservation was being lazy, but he was a maintenance-bot, so his opinion didn't count for anything. _

_Just when Sigmund was starting to seriously consider allowing himself to be vaporized, Orvus showed up with an offer he couldn't refuse._

_A floating creature from some legend he hadn't read was offering him a job on the other side of the galaxy at a place that wasn't supposed to exist. For no pay, but he would have a safe place to live, and there was dental insurance._

_Naturally, Sigmund accepted immediately. _

The computer interrupted Sigmund's reminiscence.

"Visitors in Sector Five," she quipped.

"I guess they're here, then," Sigmund said, partly to himself, partly to a few nearby Zoni. He spooned some tea into the teapot. Right on cue, the kettle began whistling. "Make some tea, will you?" he asked the Zoni, who floated in a corner, giggling as usual. He glared at them.

"Clank is coming, you know. Remember the Sire you kept going on about? He might not be so happy if he sees you all goofing off."

The little organics quickly got to work, though the tinkly, high pitched sound of their laughter was still audible. Typical hive minds. Zoni had far too many inside jokes, to the point that they found pretty much everything funny. Even when the situation was serious. Having a non-linear perspective of time did that to you.

Sigmund grabbed the Chronoscepter and rushed out the door, flying towards Sector Five. He called up a hovercar to fetch Clank and Ratchet, since they weren't able to fly. Sigmund glanced at the Orvus Chamber. They needed to discuss this as soon as possible. And have some tea, before it became too strong. Otherwise, it would taste really bitter.

* * *

Ratchet and Clank hopped out of Aphelion. The Lombax looked around, nervously rubbing his hands together. He couldn't shake off the feeling that this was somehow all his fault.

Clank, on the other hand, had gone to greet a red, hovering, slightly run-of-the-mill robot. Sigmund. Ratchet had met the robot before, back when he had helped repair the Clock. He went to go say hello.

"Hey, Sigmund."

"Hi, Ratchet, sir."

The two of them shook hands, but there wasn't much to say. The way Sigmund looked at Ratchet, it seemed that he was already planning the Lombax's funeral. Ratchet looked at Clank, whose facial expression was equally grim.

"Let us go inspect the anomaly, then," Clank said, "shall we?" He made his way to the hovercar.

"Hold on, sir," Sigmund interrupted, blocking the way. "Before we go in there, we want to make sure that you don't crash or anything."

"Is there some sort of upgrade that I will be subjected to?"

"Nah, not an upgrade, just a poem, sir."

"A poem?" Ratchet asked, confused.

"I mentioned it before. Anyway, Orvus told me that this poem was specially designed to prevent us robots from crashing when we try to process paradoxes. I mean, we could have our systems configured to disable paradoxical thinking, but since we deal with time, Clank and I still need to be able to think about paradoxes. We just have to make sure we don't _think_ think about them, you know? That's what this poem does."

Ratchet scratched his head, confused. "Maybe it's 'cause I'm organic and I don't think mathematically or something, but how could you _design _a poem to help you, you know…?"

Sigmund looked embarrassed.

"Well, actually," Sigmund said, lowering his voice to a whisper, "it took me a while to realize this, but I discovered that Orvus found the poem in an old nursery rhyme book. Turns out all you need is a distraction, and any poem works as long as you can focus all your processing power on remembering it. It helps if you make sure that it doesn't end up in your RAM."

Ratchet nodded. He didn't understand technical terms, but he could grasp the concept of distracting yourself from something you couldn't think about.

"Very well," Clank said. "Regardless, could you share your poem? I do enjoy poetry."

"Alright, here goes, sir. It's a short one, so it's easy to remember." Sigmund cleared his throat.

"_Though its people may seem cruel,_

_And savagery may seem to rule,_

_If only to fit this rhyme,_

_The Universe runs on time._"

"What a curious poem," Clank remarked, but proceeded to record it in his memory banks.

"It goes on, I think," Sigmund said, "but I just repeat the first four lines in my head. Works like a charm, I'm telling you."

"I believe you, Sigmund. Now, could we proceed to the Orvus Chamber? I would like to see the anomaly."

"Hop on the hovercar, sirs, I'll be right over with tea. Just _don't_ go near the anomaly. I don't know if it's stable enough to handle encountering what caused it."


	7. Departure

Disclaimer: Ratchet and Clank and all related characters, locations, and concepts belong to Insomniac Games. All other ideas and characters are my own. I am not a lawyer.

Author's Note: Here's Chapter 7, up at last. I've been sitting on this for a while, but today, I finally decided that enough is enough and finished the final edits while listening to the ToD soundtrack. Note that updates will be infrequent as I try not to die from overexposure to higher education. (Symptoms include trouble sleeping, changes in eating habits, and the sporadic compulsion to spend ten hours at a time doing nothing but math homework.)

Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! Your feedback has been kind and very motivational. I guess the most I can do in return is keep updating, so hopefully this is satisfactory.

I hope the writing quality isn't going down, by the way. That's something that I'm always worried about. Perfectionism is silly, but also part of my daily life.

As usual, beware of spoilers for everything up to _A Crack in Time_, and feedback is always very much appreciated.

* * *

The Problem with Paradoxes

Chapter 7: Departure

Despite the rip in spacetime that grew in it, the Orvus Chamber was pristine. Temporal abominations aside, everything was well-maintained. The glass had been painstakingly wiped down, and Ratchet could see his reflection clearly in a bezel on the wall. Clank was less dazzled by the view. After shooting a glance at the anomaly, he turned his gaze to a console. Superficially, the data it displayed appeared consistent, but upon further examination, it was clear that the data contradicted itself.

"How're you doing so far, pal?" Ratchet asked. "You okay?"

Clank continued to stare at the console for a moment, before shaking his head.

"I am fine," Clank said. "The poem is working. Still, these figures are rather… disturbing."

He began to mutter Orvus' poem aloud, absently.

Sigmund floated in behind them, balancing a tea tray on one palm.

Suddenly, the console in front of Clank beeped. To his surprise, a projection of Orvus appeared. Clank looked down. He had not pressed any buttons. Had Sigmund set something off?

Meanwhile, the projection was speaking.

"Testing, testing, one, two, one, two…"

The rest of the monologue was cut off by the clatter of shattering porcelain, followed by a few well-chosen words, as Sigmund realized that he'd never seen this projection before and scrambled to get a better view.

"What's—"

"Quiet, Ratchet."

Ratchet complied, instead shifting to get a good view of the projection. Clank rarely sounded so anxious.

"…enough testing for the moment, I suppose, now that you're done talking." Orvus cleared his throat. "Anyway, you're probably wondering why this projection has chosen to spring up so suddenly. This is no accident; I have many important things to tell you all, some of which I may even reveal to you now."

The Zoni chuckled. "Do you get that? That was a joke, you see. But I suppose even the best of jokes seem less funny under grave circumstances. My apologies."

Orvus cleared his throat before continuing.

"I suppose I should explain why I coded this projection to appear only when you spoke the password, which, I assume, would only be spoken aloud during a paradox situation. Not that I _need_ to make assumptions, since I do see time from a vastly different perspective than you. I am fully aware of the situation you are in. Possibly more aware than you are, but I'll try not to be presumptuous.

"Yes, I left the Great Clock. I could see the possible outcomes of my decision, and I saw that it was necessary for me to do so. Though everyone has free will, ultimately, causality holds the cards. Another paradox for you to ponder, I suppose.

"Speaking of paradoxes, the situation in which you are at the moment may seem quite bleak. However, not all is lost. The sooner this situation is resolved, the better the odds are. Help can still be found, but you must follow my directions _exactly_. If you proceed to the location commonly known Stratus City—found on planet Kortog, as I'm sure you know—and enter the Hall of Knowledge, you should be able to find the next piece of information required. It shouldn't be difficult for you to come across it, and you'll know what to do when you find it.

"In the mean time; Clank, your Lombax friend may learn more of his origins. Ratchet—as I know you are watching this—your species is closer than it may seem. You have been very tolerant of the delays in your search so far, but I must ask you to have more patience, as this matter takes priority over yours. I'm sure you understand. Don't forget that you have many good friends in this dimension.

"Finally, Sigmund. I am so, so, very sorry. I knew that I wouldn't return to the Great Clock, but I did not intend for you to lose hope and start living in a state of self-neglect; drinking cheap tea, and whatnot. Still, I suppose that I may have done more harm than good in withholding the truth. All I can do at this moment is beg for your forgiveness. I must add, my friend, that you underestimate yourself. You have done more for the Great Clock and the Universe than you could ever imagine."

"I forgive you, sir!" Sigmund blurted, sniffling. Robots weren't actually able to cry, but Sigmund did a pretty good job of imitating it. The projection of Orvus smiled, then continued.

"Indeed, I am very proud of all of you. Clank, Ratchet, we have never met in person, but I have indirectly witnessed enough of your exploits to convince me that neither of you could wish for a better friend. And Sigmund, I could not wish for a better Senior Caretaker.

"Thus, on that note, I leave the three of you. Remember. The Hall of Knowledge. As for the exact location of the information you're looking for: it is only logical."

Orvus chuckled, and then finished off. "End recording."

* * *

"The _Hall of Knowledge_," Ratchet said in disbelief, as they made their way back to Aphelion. "We could've just gone there in the first place."

Clank sipped some of his tea as he walked. Ratchet had long left his cup behind, claiming that it was a bit bitter for his taste.

"It is a rather odd coincidence. However, I am unable to come up with any logical reason to explain it other than pure chance." Clank shrugged. "Such things happen, on occasion."

Ratchet laughed. "Sometimes I wonder if anything happens to us by accident, pal. The universe seems to like messing with us."

Sigmund flew up to them, followed by a few Zoni who carried an assortment of tea-related paraphernalia. Both Ratchet and Clank declined the other robot's offer of more tea. Two of the nearby Zoni promptly clinked their cups together for reasons unknown to anyone but them. The resulting splash spattered everyone in the vicinity with a lot more tea than what should have been contained in the cups.

"My point exactly," said Ratchet, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"Hey!" Sigmund exclaimed. "Don't just go splashing our guests with tea! It's rude!"

He handed Clank and Ratchet tea towels so that the two could dry themselves off.

"I suppose this lends some credibility to your hypothesis," Clank said. "Perhaps it is all the work of the Zoni."

Ratchet only grumbled as he dried off his face.

"Our apologies," the Zoni said in their eerily synchronized voices, then giggled and flew away.

"How'd they do that, anyway?" Ratchet asked.

"I imagine that the teacups are dimensionally transcendental," Clank replied.

"Yeah," Sigmund said, "sorry about that. The Zoni like messing with time and space."

"Don't worry about it," Ratchet said. "Anyway, we've gotta go." He sighed. "There's no point in delaying it. There's a steadily growing rip in time and space, and we've gotta get rid of it as soon as possible."

_Even if I have to die for that to happen,_ he failed to add.

Sigmund escorted Ratchet and Clank to the docking platform on which Aphelion rested.

"Ooh, that's a really nice ship!" Sigmund exclaimed, in awe. "I never got the chance to look at her earlier. Wait… those markings look familiar. Did the Zoni give her to you?"

Aphelion started up, unimpressed. "I was never _given_ to anyone," she said. "I chose to help. Besides, I am a _Lombax_ ship, and Ratchet repaired me. Also, I would appreciate not being referred to as a possession."

"Sorry, I…"

Sigmund retreated, embarrassed. "Why do _I_ always seem to offend the female AIs?" he muttered.

Ratchet laughed, patting one of the ship's wings fondly. "Don't be so tough on him, Aphelion. The poor guy's just a bit naïve."

Clank chuckled at Sigmund's facial expression, which had settled into something resembling a combination of humility and offence.

"Do not worry, Sigmund. Ratchet is merely teasing." Clank lowered his voice to a whisper. "It seems that he has accepted you as a friend."

Sigmund frowned. Having been isolated from most people except for the hive-minded Zoni had probably done a number on his social skills, if he couldn't tell when someone was being friendly.

"At any rate," Clank continued, "we may as well be on our way. Take care of the Clock, Sigmund."

"Will do," the robot replied, clutching the Chronoscepter.

Ratchet and Clank hopped into Aphelion, who powered up and took off. Sigmund waved at them until they were no longer visible. When he turned around, he realized that a few Zoni were staring at him.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, annoyed.

Giggling, they flew away, saying nothing. As usual. _Cryptic little rascals._

"Fine, then. Don't talk. I see how it is."

* * *

Stratus City in peacetime was a sight to behold.

Hovercars zoomed by left and right, and above. And below.

The vidscreens that had once broadcasted propaganda now advertised clothes, gadgets, and quantum mechanics symposia.

All the activity going on amidst the floating buildings gave the impression of something not unlike a hive. Everyone was on fast-forward: robots hovering away to perform their duties, organics rushing to a variety of destinations; even the non-sentient organics seemed to be driven by some strong, unseen force. The birds flew with a sort of rushed agitation that caused them to collide with hovercars more often than usual. The whole city had an aura of hypervigilance about it.

"Be careful, Ratchet," Clank said as they exited the multi-storey parking lot elevator. "It is very easy to fall here, and my robo-wings cannot function well without fuel."

"All right," the Lombax said, attaching the robot to the bolt on his back in a swift, well-practiced movement.

As they walked down the crowded pedway toward a Gelatonium launchpad, someone on the pedway above was knocked off by the sheer volume of pedestrian traffic. The surprised Cazar yelped and fell for a few seconds before an invisible safety net caught him. He bounced, and landed on a less crowded section of the pedway. Then, disregarding the other pedestrians, he shoved his way through the crowd and entered the nearest building.

"Looks like they've got the falling off part covered, but why's everyone in such a _hurry_?" Ratchet wondered. "They almost look… scared."

Glancing around, Clank noticed that there was indeed an air of paranoia about the city. As they took off from the launchpad, he saw several pedestrians flinch in their wake, unused to seeing Lombaxes with winged robots strapped to their backs. Perhaps the city had not yet recovered from Tachyon's uprising. That would explain the citizens' agitation.

When they entered the Hall of Knowledge, the paranoid atmosphere was clear from the start.

"Blunt object!" a robot cried, pouncing on Ratchet's wrench and confiscating it before the Lombax could get a word in edgewise. Ratchet let him do so, knowing that a confrontation would only slow things down. Another robot performed a scan on them. He promptly crashed, unable to believe the sheer size of the arsenal that Ratchet carried.

"Uh… sorry?" was Ratchet's only response as several heavier guardbots turned on him.

After a bit of explanation on Clank's part, the guards finally let them both enter, on the condition that Ratchet leave his entire arsenal in a locker. After the Lombax unloaded his weapons in a pile, it was decided that they wouldn't fit in a locker. Instead, the weapons were locked in an abandoned broom closet near the entrance. One bot hurriedly handed Ratchet two security passes while another shoved him and Clank through the door, eager to get them out of the way as quickly as possible.


	8. Information

Disclaimer: Ratchet and Clank and all related characters, locations, and concepts belong to Insomniac Games. All other ideas and characters are my own. I am not a lawyer.

Author's Note: Chapter 8 is finished at last! I know it's been forever, but I've had finals, travel, a summer job search and an unexpected social life to deal with. (Yeah, yeah, I know those are just excuses. I'm sorry!) Don't worry, I haven't abandoned this fic. I just have really bad time management skills. This chapter is a bit longer to make up for the long gap between updates.

Thanks, yet again, for all the reviews! I appreciate them more than what I can put into words. That said, if you have any sort of feedback, be sure to review!

Watch out for spoilers for the _Future_ series and everything leading up to that, as usual.

* * *

The Problem with Paradoxes

Chapter 8: Information

Ratchet and Clank found themselves in the Hall's main entrance. Unlike the previous time they had visited, it was brightly lit and filled with a variety of organics and robots; mostly researchers, by the looks of it. The atmosphere was calm, though a bit of paranoia still lingered under the surface. Ratchet noticed it in how people avoided his gaze. Then again, he stood out a bit, dressed as he was in full armour.

"So, where do we go now?" Ratchet asked. "Orvus wasn't really specific about that. 'Only logical?'"

Clank rested his chin on one hand as he thought. "If we are to proceed logically, we have to consider that my father is a being capable of traversing higher dimensions. That is, the dimension of time, to him, is as easy to traverse as any dimension of space. He is therefore capable of gathering knowledge of events that, to us, have yet to transpire."

"So he can go anywhere at any time. Hey, he could be here right now!"

"Perhaps. At any rate, we should proceed naturally, to a location we would have visited regardless. I suggest that we find information on your species. Although we should take care to be subtle."

"Yeah, I imagine some of these eggheads would go crazy if I mentioned that I'm a Lombax."

"_Lombax!?_" a voice yelled. "Did someone say Lombax?"

Ratchet cringed at his mistake, and turned around. A meduim-sized orange-eyed robot was flying towards him.

"Oh, dear," Clank said.

"Hmm," the robot said, putting on an intellectual tone. "You certainly resemble one." He circled the Lombax, taking notes on a tablet. "Long ears, tufted tail... though your short statue is somewhat abnormal."

"Sorry," he added, as Ratchet shot him a death glare.

The robot hesitated before continuing.

"Now," he said, "I'm really, really, sorry about this."

Then, he reached out and tore a few hairs from the back of Ratchet's neck before hovering up to a safe distance as Ratchet yelped and retaliated with an instinctive punch.

"Agh!" the Lombax yelled, covering his neck with a hand. "_What _isyour _problem!?_"

A few passersby stopped to shush him. Ratchet clenched his fist, unconsciously clutching a wrench he didn't have.

Clank frowned up at the robot. "That was rude."

"Sorry! Please understand, I have to perform an analysis, especially since I have a live specimen right in front of me! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…"

Another, almost identical robot stopped by. The first robot cowered.

"Rho," the newcomer said, "what did I tell you about taking samples from visitors?"

"Uh… terribly sorry, Ma'am. He looked like a Lombax."

"Everyone looks like a Lombax to you. Now, don't apologize to me, apologize to him."

She nodded in Ratchet's direction. Rho turned towards him, terrified.

"I'm sorry," he said to Ratchet, "that was rude of me. _Please don't kill me_."

Clank stepped forwards. He would have to act fast to prevent the situation from escalating. "Your apology is accepted, but I would ask that you cancel your analysis, as it constitutes a violation of privacy."

Clank was too late. There was a whirr, and a piece of ticker tape spewed from Rho's mouth. Rho tore it off, and his optics widened as he examined the results. He tried to stash the tape away in his chest compartment, but his supervisor snatched it away from him. She glanced at the tape and quickly slapped a hand over Rho's mouth, lest he alert the entire room.

"Rho, you idiot," she whispered, half-panicking as she glanced at the results. "Now we're liable. The little guy's right. Go away and pretend nothing happened. Say nothing. That's an order, override fifty-four-seventeen. I'll take care of these two."

She released him. The other robot squirmed for a moment, as if he would rather stay. Then, his programming took over, and he dashed away, silently.

"Pardon my subordinate's behaviour. He's always been bit over-enthusiastic. Welcome to the Hall of Knowledge. You may call me Altana."

She held out her hand. First Ratchet, then Clank shook it in turn.

"I'm Ratchet. This is Clank."

Altana's eyes lit up, literally.

"_The_ Ratchet and Clank? Galactic saviours and former movie stars?"

"Uh," Ratchet said, "Can we keep that part quiet? The last thing we need right now is a crowd of fans."

"Of course," Altana said, immediately resuming a professional expression. "What are you looking for?"

"We would like to peruse whatever information you have concerning the Lombaxes," Clank said.

"Follow me," Altana said, leading them to an elevator. She punched in a code and the doors closed behind them.

* * *

The top floor of the Hall was immense, easily the size of a battle arena. Even more impressing was the fact that the room was packed with rows upon rows of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. The ceiling itself was a glass dome, slightly tinted to filter out the harshest parts of the spectrum. There were a few benches by the elevator, where a couple of researchers sat, absorbed in their reading.

Altana led Ratchet and Clank to the section on Lombax history, then left when they assured her that they could find their way around.

As Ratchet immersed himself in a holo-terminal, Clank picked a book up off a shelf, running a hand over the cover. No dust.

In most parts of the Universe, books had largely been phased out by digital versions. Certainly, it was easier to carry a touch-sensitive holo-screen than a thick tome. A library could be stored in a chip that could sit on his finger.

Nevertheless, there was something about the experience of actual reading, the crinkle of paper, the comforting weight of a book, which called out to Clank. Reading a book was _the_ method of input for information. Learning as it was meant to be.

The robot opened the book, reading the inside of the cover. _A Brief History of Fastoon, _it said. He then proceeded to turn the page…

…and had the entire, 200-page book committed to memory in the span of two minutes.

Reading as Nature intended. Though perhaps he should have gone back and re-read a few sections on the geology of the planet; had natural volcanic activity really diminished on Fastoon after the Lombaxes' departure, or were there simply fewer Lombax-caused explosions to trigger the volcanoes in the first place?

No matter. The information was hardly relevant to Ratchet's search.

Clank stepped onto an elevator platform and made his way down the shelf, searching for another book to read.

* * *

Ratchet stared at the screen of the holo-terminal. In the span of only a few minutes, during which Clank had somehow managed to commit an entire book to his memory, Ratchet had barely begun searching the library catalogue.

His first thought had been to search his father's name. There were many Lombaxes named Kaden, but by cross-referencing Alister Azimuth's name, Ratchet found the right entry.

_[Last name unknown], Kaden: Lombax. Senior Researcher for the __Centre of Advanced Lombax Research.__ Head Researcher for __Project CALR-521-Alpha__ ("The Dimensionator"). Mentioned several times in the journal of __General Alister Azimuth__ as a childhood friend. Married to another Lombax, female, name unknown, father of one child, male, name unknown._

_Status: Missing in action._

Ratchet sighed, looking at the entry. Not as much detail as he had wanted. A lot of information had probably been lost. A prompt appeared on the screen:

_Search full library for entries containing "Kaden", "Azimuth, Alister"?_

Ratchet tapped Enter, and a progress bar appeared on the bottom of the screen. Searching every book in the library would probably take a while. In the mean time, he noticed that Alister's name was a link. Ratchet followed it to its corresponding entry.

_General Azimuth, Alister: Lombax. Four-Bolt Magistrate of the __Lombax Praetorian Guard__, and Elder Councilman for the __Centre for Advanced Lombax Research__ before the __Great War__. Architected the __Court of Azimuth__. Exiled for crimes committed against the Lombax species, and held personally responsible for the Great War._

_Status: Exiled_

Nothing he hadn't heard before, but Alister's entry had a list of related material.

_Related Material:_

Fall of a Hero_, a biography by H. S. Torrien_

_Azimuth's journal__, recovered from Fastoon_

_List of Lombax leaders_

_A journal_? Ratchet followed the second link. Immediately, the file began to download onto an infobot. A light on the wall flashed green, and the infobot emerged from a slot under the keyboard. Ratchet stowed it away. He'd look at it later.

* * *

Clank rounded a corner and encountered Altana, who was in the process of reading a book, albeit at an organic pace. _Lombax Cosmology Through the Ages,_ the cover read.

"I notice you are reading a cosmology book," Clank said.

Altana started. "I— please, don't tell anyone I'm reading on the job, sometimes I just can't help it. I worked at an observatory once, and I—"

"Do not worry," Clank said. "I am merely curious because I am searching for information pertaining to the field. Do you have any literature on temporal paradoxes?"

Immediately, Clank regretted asking the question, as Altana seized up, optics dimming. He had neglected to consider the effect of paradoxes on robots. However, Altana blinked, and came back to life.

"Hold on, there's something in my programming acting up. This shouldn't be happening. All my anti-crash safeguards are up-to-date."

Ratchet swivelled his chair around. He could tell that something was up.

Altana pushed a button on her wrist, and a holo-display popped out of her forearm, along with a small keypad, on which she typed. Frowning, she read the display.

"Somehow, your voice patterns were coded so that when you spoke the word 'paradoxes', I received a password prompt. It's coded to your vocal signature. Now, it's asking for a password. Or rather, I'm asking myself for a password. Huh." She typed some more, and her arm beeped. "None of mine are working."

Altana looked around, suddenly displaying the paranoia intrinsic to every inhabitant of the city. "Who did this to me, and why did I never notice this file?"

"Try typing XJ-0461," Clank said, calmly.

Absently, Altana entered the code. A beep sounded. "Negative. Hold on, why do _you_ know what's going on? What is this?"

"Hmm. Perhaps B5429671 will yield better results."

"Fine," Altana said, "but note that this is _completely_ against protocol. I'm only doing this because you're galactic saviours."

She entered the new code, and a hologram of Orvus popped up.

"Hellooooooo— Er, one moment. Altana, dear, please leave this hologram to the Lombax and the robot you see in front of you. Of course, you have no idea who I am. Forgive me. Anyway, I will wait five seconds. I trust that you know the right thing to do."

"Oh, well, this is awkward," Altana said, pausing the display. "A message for _you_ is on _my_ hard disk. And it's definitely confidential, seeing that it was hidden from me."

She paused in thought.

"Intergalactic heroes," Ratchet said, in an attempt to persuade her.

"Okay," Altana said, shaking her head. "I'll just follow the instructions and… leave you my arm for the time being. Press the green button to play."

She yanked off the appendage without suffering any undue effects, and handed it to Clank.

"I'll just… go somewhere else. Find me at the other end of the next section on the left. If anyone asks, this never happened."

She dashed away, clutching the rest of her arm.

Ratchet and Clank glanced at each other. The Lombax shrugged. They settled down on a bench, and Clank pressed the green button. Orvus unfroze, and after waiting for a few seconds, began to speak.

"Five seconds are up. Now, Clank, Ratchet, you must listen closely. You have done well in retrieving this message, as I knew you would. Perhaps you even came across some other beneficial information along the way."

The hologram chuckled meaningfully.

"This is not the end of your journey, however. The next clue is located in the galaxy's local supercomputer. I believe you've met her before; she goes by the name 'IRIS'. The file you seek will be hidden in her data banks. However, it will be necessary to repair her beforehand. I'm afraid that she has been quite neglected. New power cells are required; a few schematics are attached on file with this message. As for where they can be obtained, I'm certain that the two of you will not have much trouble figuring that out.

"Now, both of you may be wondering why I won't just tell you exactly what's going on, and the exact location of what you seek. This, I'm afraid, could prove dangerous for me, as I am currently in a rather compromised situation. I cannot reveal more, for prying eyes and ears could take advantage of that information. I apologize for being so infuriatingly cryptic, but I'm afraid that cannot be helped. One can never be too safe. Well, not unless the safety procedures themselves are dangerous somehow, but that's neither here nor there.

"Besides, as they say, it's about the journey, not the destination. You have much to learn, and this search may answer some of the questions that you have. It has probably already answered some.

"Anyway, I suppose I will finish off with a few lines of that poem, which I have grown rather fond of over time. You may find it of use yet!

"_Time holds together the space,_

_Keeping events in their place,_

_It seems permanent and yet,_

_Sometimes we are in its debt._

"With that, I leave you both. Oh, and say 'hello' to IRIS for me. It's been a while since I've seen her, but I remember her fondly. After all, one does not often forget one's first supercomputer. End recording."

The hologram froze, and the screen went blank. Ratchet and Clank sat in silence for a moment, pondering what Orvus had just said.

"So," Ratchet said, "we've gotta get new power cells for IRIS? Shouldn't be too bad. You've fixed her before, right?"

"Indeed," Clank said, looking at the ceiling, "but at the moment, whether or not I would be able to fix IRIS is the least of my concerns."

Ratchet looked up. Unfortunately, he failed to see what exactly was heading towards the building, because at that moment, the ceiling shattered.


End file.
